Land Before Time Fight for the Valley
by Firecarryer
Summary: As the forces of destruction rise, Littlefoot and his friends are forced to fight to save their home and the rest of the world from a threat that even the adults are powerless against.
1. Chapter 1

The Great Valley. A sheltered kingdom, filled with lush plants and calmly flowing waters, with little danger or squabbles where food is plenty and life is abundant. Millions of years ago, it was home to the giants who ruled the Earth. It was home to the dinosaurs.

In the Great Valley currently slept five friends, all gathered together under the watchful eyes of their guardians after a night of stories and stargazing. The children were huddled together, taking comfort in the familiar warmth and proximity of each other.

In the centre of the group was a young, pink male longneck known as Littlefoot. He was the tallest in the group, having grown the most with his long thin neck wrapped around his legs and his equally long tail resting beside his head. He was the centre post, the support that held his friends together. He was the caring leader, slow to anger and gifted with wisdom beyond his years.

To his right was a young yellow threehorn, the female Cera. Cera was curled up, her back to Littlefoot and the others but her back was pressed tightly to his side. Her short tail curled slightly as it sat by side, and her crested head was nestled on her front legs, the start of her two adult horns starting to show above her eyes. She wasn't the biggest in the group but was by far the most dangerous and most aggressive, often quarrelling over trivial matters with her friends. There had been times when she had turned her back on her friends but always came back, normally in time to help save them from whatever danger they were facing.

To Littlefoot's left was the green spiketail, Spike. Spike was the youngest in the group, but was the broadest and strongest of the five so far. With his recent growth he had grown the starts of spikes that would give his kind their namesake, and he had started to develop the tough plates that would protect his back later in life. Spike was the slowest of the group, rarely speaking and commonly taking up the rear in their adventures. Calm and docile, Spike rarely cared for anything that didn't involve his friends or food. He slept with his head next to Littlefoot's and his tail out of range for any of his sleeping friends.

On Spike's back was his older sister, a big-mouthed swimmer. The small greenish-grey female named Ducky was small enough to easily sleep on Spike's back without causing him discomfort. Her biped form was slightly curled but tended to form a straight line as she slept, her head resting on her arms and short tail drooping as she slept. She was the second smallest in the group, recently the smallest until she started to grow in a similar fashion as the rest of her kind, gaining slightly webbed hands and a larger crest on her head that grew with her small body.

The last of the five was a brown flyer named Ptetrie. The flyer would never grow as large as his friends, due to his ability of flight and as such, would be the smallest of them forever. His wings had grown as had his body, giving him a more impressive appearance than his childish self did. With a more curved beak and more developed hands on his wings, Ptetrie appeared to be the most adult of his friends even with his small stature. He currently slept on Littlefoot's back but only because he had fallen asleep before Cera. Ptetrie commonly rode on Cera's back, hiding behind her thick plate when there was danger. He was possibly the bravest of the five however, since he was the first to put himself at risk for his friends and easily the most vulnerable to predators.

The five friends had faced many dangers together growing up. Though still young, they had saved the Valley from many crisis and while they had bravely faced danger before, they were still quite young and relied on the grown-ups for advice and protection.

But danger was coming, danger from far across the Mysterious Beyond, more dangerous than the many Sharpteeth that roamed the ravaged land. A danger that the grown-ups had no way to fight, and no way to protect these children.

This was a danger that they would be forced to face alone. And as they slept, the being that would warn them of this danger, and prepare them the best they could, was travelling through the Mysterious Beyond, praying that they weren't too late.


	2. Chapter 2

_**I don't own Land Before** **Time.**_

**Chapter 1**

"Littlefoot?" A voice called gently. The young longneck groaned as he blearily opened his eyes to the kind face of his maternal grandmother staring at him.

"Oh good, you're awake dear," Grandma Longneck smiled and nuzzled him gently. "You're friends are still asleep but you must get up. Is there room for you to get up?"

Littlefoot lifted his head slowly and shifted his weight to try and stand. A chorus of sleepy murmurs and protests greeted him and Littlefoot lay back down. "No Grandma. I'll wake the others. Why am I up so early anyway? The Great Circle hasn't even fully risen."

Littlefoot spoke the truth. It was barely dawn and no other dinosaurs were awake yet. Both his grandparents were awake and seemed to want to tell their grandson something important but he was stuck where he was.

Grandma sighed and glanced at Grandpa. The old male longneck sighed and replied quietly, "It can't be helped Grandma. It isn't fair to Littlefoot's friends to have to wake up. Besides, I think this would be something best discussed in front of all of the children and their parents."

"Discussed?" Littlefoot looked up at his grandparents, very confused. "What's going on Grandpa? Is something wrong again? Is there a problem in the Great Valley?" Normally the only time his grandparents sent him and his friends away was when there was a problem in the Valley and they didn't want their children risking their lives trying to solve it.

Grandpa shook his head. "I don't know Littlefoot. There is a strange clubtail who has come to us in search of you and your friends. He is very insistent about meeting you. There is a strange air about him and he seem most anxious to see you young ones."

Littlefoot slowly angled his head to see the anxious clubtail. Most clubtails were a faded pink colour, with spikes along the sides of their flat, armoured backs and a large round club on the end of their tails. This one was a light grey, with spikes curving up his round back and a tail more in an oval or square shape rather than a sphere. He was pacing back and forth as he waited, muttering to himself as he waited for the children to wake.

Littlefoot watched for a minute and turned back to his grandparents. "He doesn't seem dangerous. Maybe a little strange but mostly worried."

Grandma nodded in agreement. "Your Grandpa and I agree Littlefoot but it is why he wants to see you that is a mystery. He claims to be Stonetail and he bears a message for you and your friends."

Grandpa added, "When he noticed that my foot was injured from that tree snapping yesterday, he did the strangest thing. He turned a bit and flicked his tail towards my foot. There was a quick flash and just like that, my foot was fixed. I don't know who he is Littlefoot, but he is certainly extraordinary."

Littlefoot glanced at his friends and saw that not only were they sleeping but their parents were as well. Littlefoot glanced at Stonetail and asked his grandparents, "What if we were to talk to him first? The others won't wake up until much later and it might help ease his mind if he were to talk to someone?"

His grandparents looked at each other slightly concerned and nodded slowly. "He may speak to you Littlefoot. He has no objections to us being with you five when he speaks but he does request that he deliver his message to you five specifically. Talking with him might help us determine his true intentions." With that, Grandma reached her neck over and spoke quietly to the clubtail, while Grandpa towered over the children protectively.

Stonetail plodded over to Littlefoot quietly, smiling as he the sleeping formation of the five children. "Ah yes, I thought as much. Their spirits shone brightly through the night as I approached. You must be Littlefoot. It is an honour to meet you young Longneck. And I assume you know who I am?"

Littlefoot nodded. "You're Stonetail, a clubtail. You did, well, something to my grandpa and healed his leg. And for some reason you wanted to see me."

"Not just you, all five of you," Stonetail corrected quickly. "Just you would not help the situation, nor would it benefit for any of you to be missing. All five of you complete the circle, with the five forces depending on each other to survive."

"Forces? All five of us?" Littlefoot was feeling confused again and looked the clubtail in the eye. "What is it that you want from us exactly?"

"I need your help Littlefoot. The five of you complete the circle of forces." Stonetail replied gravely. "There is a new threat dawning that you five are needed to face. This is a power that only you can fight. You five are special Littlefoot. You five wield the powers of creation and with that power, you must save our world."


	3. Chapter 3

_**I don't own Land Before** **Time.**_

**Chapter 2**

Littlefoot was speechless at this. "Save the world? What do you mean? I'm just a kid."

Stonetail sighed and inclined his head. "I know and I have waited for as long as I could. I hoped that what remained of my people could hold off the disaster for longer and give you five more time but there was no hope. We were arrogant to assume we could hold back this disaster and my people have paid the price for such ignorance."

Littlefoot was even more confused and worst of all, curious. "What do you mean your people? More clubtails?"

Stonetail nodded. "My people also hold a force of creation, although not one as strong as any of you five. We are people of light, healers and builders. In times of battle we hide and shield ourselves with our power, hurting others only as a last resort. My people were once numerous and now I am the only one with enough strength to teach you five your powers."

Grandpa interrupted at this point, asking, "Powers? What are you talking about? Surely if Littlefoot or his friends had any power whatsoever we would have seen by now."

Stonetail shook his head. "You would not have noticed anything wise one, not with these five. All five have powers that would show themselves in subtle ways, visible only to spirit vision that is held by my people and few others. How else could I have found them and known who they were, having never met them before? And before you voice doubt about my own powers, I showed you them after healing your leg."

Grandma shook her head. "We never doubted that you had power, only that our grandson and his friends do. What sort of powers would they wield, if they have such power at all?"

Stonetail drew a circle in the dust with his front foot. "The five powers that created this world. The powers of Fire, Water, Wind, Earth and Wood. Fire, the source of heat and light that sparked life in the planet; Water, the flowing grace that is needed by all life to survive and that shaped the mountains; Earth, which all plants grow into and supports life on its own; Wind, which is the air we breathe and that spreads the seeds of life; and Wood, the power held that sustains that plants of our world. These forces have shaped and our world and these five have it in them to manipulate these forces with their wills."

Littlefoot was a little overwhelmed by this clubtail's sudden and long explanation. "I think you made a mistake. We don't control any forces such as those. We don't have any powers of any kind."

"Oh no?" Stonetail asked, his eyes glinting. "I can see what power each of you hold Littlefoot, as clear as you see the stars in the sky. You hold the power of Earth within you." As Littlefoot started to protest, Stonetail interrupted, "You are normally the calm one, the rational one. You care deeply for your friends and would walk through fire to save them. You are slow to anger but once you are angry, there isn't one of your friends that could stop you from acting. You often have dreams of what ill befalls the Valley immediately before or during the event. You will often fight with Cera for leadership, but in the end everyone will turn to you no matter what she says or does. Ptetrie is the only member of the group that has ever stood up to you angry and won, no matter how you tried to reason or force your will upon him and as irrational as it was, when you first met Ptetrie you were scared to turn your back on him, even though he was just a little flier."

Littlefoot's mouth froze as it opened, protests suddenly dying in his throat. This stranger, this clubtail that he hadn't even known for five minutes, suddenly knew everything that made up Littlefoot's daily life.

"How do you know all of this?" Littlefoot asked, his voice raw with shock.

Stonetail smiled, a gentle but sad smile. "Your spirit shines with your power Littlefoot. You hold the power of Earth, the guiding force, the slow to change and hard to anger force that sustains life for generations without tiring. With your power comes your nature." Littlefoot struggled to accept this stranger's rambling but it all made sense. For whatever reason, however this stranger had come across this knowledge, Stonetail knew more about Littlefoot that even his grandparents knew, and Littlefoot was forced to consider that he was telling the truth.

"Ok, suppose I do believe you," Littlefoot asked. "Why do you need us?"

Stonetail's face hardened and his eyes blazed with hate. "There is a disaster coming, one which wields the powers of Destruction that are counters to your powers of Creation. The one responsible for this destruction is a Sharptooth that we tried to seal away years ago, before you five were even born. You five are the only ones with the power to seal it away again."

"Again?" Grandpa leaned forward, interrupting the clubtail from his explanation. "Does this mean that it has been sealed away before?"

Again Stonetail hesitated, until he nodded and explained, "The force of destruction can never be defeated, only sealed and weakened. Destruction cannot be destroyed, for that act would be an act of destruction. It can only be sealed away time and time again."

"But why can't it be stopped? Why can't we change it or just limit it?" Littlefoot pressed. "Surely if it can think it can reason and we can stop sealing it."

Stonetail slowly shook his head. "It has been tried in the past Littlefoot. Destruction is not a being of mercy or even an evil being. The problem is in its nature. Just as you feel the need for reason and peace, it feels the need for destruction and chaos. There is no changing its nature and no convincing it to stop. The only solution is to seal destruction off, for it will never stop answering to its nature if it is free."

That seemed to annoy Littlefoot. "So the solution is to imprison it? Take its free will and decide for it?"

Stonetail sighed heavily. "Littlefoot, if it was that simple we wouldn't have to call on those as powerful as you five. The problem remains that Destruction is powerful and that if he is released, you will have no power to fight him. Littlefoot, if there was a way to defeat him or reason with him, I would have called upon that option many years ago. But the truth is that no matter how much we try to reason or negotiate with him, we end up with more dinosaurs dying."

Littlefoot looked unhappy with this but didn't press the issue further. His grandparents hadn't spoken since Stonetail had answered their questions. There was an uncomfortable silence that spread across the group until Grandma noticed Stonetail all but swaying with exhaustion. "It's far too early for Littlefoot and his friends to wake and you are obviously exhausted. Perhaps it would be best for us all to get some rest and to talk in the morning."

Stonetail was about to protest only to sway slightly with exhaustion. "Perhaps that is best. I had not realised how tired I truly was. Very well, in the morning I shall talk with the young ones." Stonetail hobbled away, barely able to stay upright enough to find a place to sleep. "I will discuss more of this in the morning. Hopefully by then I will have recovered."

Littlefoot stared at the clubtail for many moments after he fell asleep. Looking up at his grandparents, Littlefoot asked, "Do you think he's telling the truth? About my friends and me?"

Grandpa nodded. "His power is real Littlefoot and he knows much about you without having met you previously. I am unsure what powers you may possess Littlefoot but from what this Mr. Stonetail has to say, it is powerful."

Grandma heaved a sigh and told them all, "It is late and we must be getting some rest. We can only hope that whatever Mr. Stonetail has to say is true and believed by the other grownups. For now, we all should get some sleep." With that, his grandparents lay their heads down around the children and did drift back to sleep.

Littlefoot didn't immediately though. He glanced at his friends, thinking about what Stonetail had said. Glancing at his friends, all curled up around him, Littlefoot wondered if the others might truly have power. He wondered if he might have power.

Littlefoot stared at the ground as he thought. Unnoticed by the young Longneck, where Littlefoot stared the ground began to shift. Eventually however, Littlefoot grew tired and started to drift off. Before he did though, Littlefoot completed a ring around his friends, like he always did. "A safe place, sealed off from the rest of the world. I form a ring, and anything that comes after us will have to deal with me first."

As Littlefoot drifted off to sleep, he realised that his own thoughts were lining up exactly as Stonetail described him. A slight worry formed within him as he drifted off to sleep.


End file.
